No one knows exactly what drift (being the change in original form and function that kata encountered over time) has ocurred in any given kata. I was referring to the fact that all versions of naihanchi tend to be on a similar page, with differences not being drastic. Certain "drift" is known, however, by comparing known older versions of classical kata, from classical ryu-ha, with more modern versions. But, of course, nothing is certain, so I certainly don't "know about the drift kata encounter" like my statement may have implied.

Hi.Shorin ryu, of course. And ALL THREE You can`t have much time to raseyour legs Shorin ryu! Easy! Short! Effective...Troubles will be in your moves. They are too short.Power you can find in relaxation !!! And VERY-VERY short SPEED moves. Twitch your... claster(?) raseme(?) with maximus relax and speed. And stop it. Your can understandshort moves.Br.

Quote:Hi.Shorin ryu, of course. And ALL THREE You can`t have much time to raseyour legs Shorin ryu! Easy! Short! Effective...Troubles will be in your moves. They are too short.Power you can find in relaxation !!! And VERY-VERY short SPEED moves. Twitch your... claster(?) raseme(?) with maximus relax and speed. And stop it. Your can understandshort moves.Br.

Um,you are kinda sounding like yoda there guy. I'll get started on naihanchi as soon as I am better.Thanks.

_________________________ Skinny,Bald,and Handsome! Fightingarts Warrior of the year

I practiced Shorin ryu a long time ago, well over 20 years ago and guess what Kata I remember? Naihanchi Shodan! Of all the forms I have learned that is still my favorite. I have a link to Master Mc's web site where he demonstrates it and I think his kata is the best. Lets see If I can put the link up. http://mchenry.homeip.net/TangSooDo/forms/I think that is it. Good luck!

My take on the differing Naihanchi versions is they are terribly different, including using different energy generation mechanisms.

I believe the resemblence is superficial, but inside the variations there is as much difference as there is in the 15 variations of Patsai, or Seisan or whatever.

And as in everything else, I strongly suspect all of them are quite practical, just different.

The tidal drift on Okinawan kata remains a constant.

Just found your reply!

I see your point. Such as the mechanics of energy generation are very different in shiko dachi than kiba dachi, or even in varying depths of kiba dachi, or in the manner in which one executes the cross step. Neither better nor worse, just different.

I have also trained the kata from shiko dachi previously and find the higher stance (not disimilair to sanchin dachi width ) allows far better structure in the kata, greater power generation, control and flow and makes alot more sense when looking at applications.

Its just my expierience and obviously i respect others have different expierience. And in fairness i have seen older chinese versions trained from very low horse stances???

I like the fact i train sanchin and naihanchi stances the same width, it gives me a good structure to base my karate on, its also the width of my freestyle stance - keeps it all simple for me!